


Queer Means Strange and We Are Stranger Than All(Modern AU)

by But_gay



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bisexual Jonathan Byers, Bisexual Mike Wheeler, Bisexual Steve Harrington, F/F, F/M, Gay Will Byers, Good Parent Jim "Chief" Hopper, Good Parent Joyce Byers, Good Sibling Nancy Wheeler, How tf do i tag, Lesbian Maxine "Max" Mayfield, M/M, Mike Wheeler Loves Will Byers, Multi, Other, Pansexual Eleven | Jane Hopper, Sara Hopper Lives
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-15 01:28:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29181027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/But_gay/pseuds/But_gay
Summary: TW Homophobia, mentions of abuse and parental neglectStranger Things Modern AU Featuring:Non Binary Eleven!Stoncy!Byler!Elmax!Henclair!Chaos!and Fluff!Censored swearsI aged Nancy and Jonathan down a year and Steve and Robin down one also because plotTwo things: I still haven't finished the series so if I get anything wrong, just wait, I'll fix it at some point. Also, please do not expect many updates on a schedule. This is just for when I have ideas
Relationships: Dustin Henderson/Lucas Sinclair, Eleven | Jane Hopper & Jim "Chief" Hopper, Eleven | Jane Hopper/Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Jonathan Byers & Joyce Byers & Will Byers & Eleven | Jane Hopper, Jonathan Byers/Steve Harrington/Nancy Wheeler, Joyce Byers & Eleven | Jane Hopper, Joyce Byers & Jim "Chief" Hopper, Joyce Byers & Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Joyce Byers & Mike Wheeler, Joyce Byers & Nancy Wheeler, Joyce Byers & Steve Harrington, Joyce Byers & Will Byers, Mike Wheeler & Nancy Wheeler, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington, Robin Buckley/Original Female Character(s), Steve Harrington & The Party, Will Byers/Mike Wheeler
Comments: 5
Kudos: 14





	Queer Means Strange and We Are Stranger Than All(Modern AU)

**Author's Note:**

> wooo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> June 2020(in a world where the virus didn't happen)
> 
> A bunch of kids from Indiana go to Chicago for pride.
> 
> *Robin's girlfriend is named Julia*

Eleven jolted awake at the sound of their alarm blasting Ex-Wives from Six The Musical. They never set alarms, but they really did have to be somewhere that morning. They sprung out of bed, turning the alarm off, and looking around for the bag they had packed for that specific day. A soft groan came from their bed. El giggled and spun on the balls of their feet. They padded closer to their bed and leaned down next to their “very much not a morning person” of a girlfriend.

“Hey, sweetie, wake up!” They whisper yelled. Max had stayed over the night before.

“El, please, babe, five more minutes,” she murmured, lightly hitting her partner's arm. El looked over her in a bit of a pan panic. Max was sprawled on the bed, one arm stretched out where El had been only moments before, her crimson red hair spread all over El’s black and pride colored splatter paint pillows, freckles sprinkling her face and her closed eyelids covering her gorgeous blue eyes.

Eleven couldn’t help but kiss her on the lips quickly before saying, “wake up. You can sleep in the car.” Max only responded with a groan and rolled away from them. Eleven thought for a moment before smirking and walking out of the room. They wandered past their father, grabbing an eggo waffle from the plate he had put on the table. Sara was sitting in a chair on a few books so she could reach the table, her hair only just slightly growing back, leaving her with what looked like a buzzcut. “Up and at 'em, kiddo,” they said, stuffing the waffle in their mouth and picking their baby sister up. 

Their dad looked at them weird as they walked back to their room. Sara was giggling. She always loved being picked up. Eleven pushed the door open with their shoulder and sauntered over to their sleeping girlfriend. “Last chance,” they said, though Max probably didn’t understand it due to the waffle in their mouth. Max only groaned again.

Eleven smirked as well as they could and plopped the six year old on top of Max. “Oof!” Max said, her eyelids flying back to reveal her ice blue eyes. Sara giggled and began attempting to tickle Max. Despite the tickling not working, Max was laughing anyways, causing El to burst out laughing.

★☆★

“Mike! We’re gonna be late because of you!” Nancy yelled.

“Hey, they’re picking us up, so, technically, I’m not late!” Mike screamed back, shoving his clothes in his bag, carefully covering the pride things with normal clothes, just in case someone unzipped it. He sat back to breath and was shot back to the day he and Nancy had tried to explain the trip without mentioning pride. It had not been easy, but it worked. Hopper had rented a party van to drive everyone to Chicago for a pride parade. They were staying in Chicago for a week. 

Mike grabbed his bags and dragged them downstairs. “You could help, Nance,” he spat at his sister.

She scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest. “Yeah, like you helped me?” Mike made a face at her and continued down the stairs.

“Okay, call me when you get there and call me at least once a day,” their mom said. She continued on about rules they had to follow in Chicago. At some point, she got to, “and of course, who are you rooming with?” 

She’d asked them this before. She’d asked them daily, actually. Mike sighed and said, “Will.” This was a lie. He was rooming with El, since Will was his boyfriend.

Nancy nodded and said, “Julia.” This wasn’t a lie. Nancy was dating Steve and Jonathan, so she of course couldn’t be trusted in the same room as them. Though, Julia is a lesbian so maybe that isn’t a wonderful idea. 

The full room arrangements were: Julia and Nancy, Mike and El, Steve and Robin, Jonathan and Will, Lucas, Max and Dustin and then of course the adults. Even though these arrangements existed, they would most likely be broken. 

It was only five-eleven in the morning, so when Nancy and Mike went outside, the only other person outside was Lucas, who was being picked up at the same time. The Hopper family pulled up in a large party van with Emerson Van Rentals printed on the side. Max pulled the door open, yelling, “get your a**es in here!”

“Language!” Hopper said from the front. The inside of the van had five rows of seats. Max backed away from the door and plopped down in the seat in the front where Eleven was, sitting with Sara next to them.

Mike slid in the seat behind El and Max, shoving his bags underneath. Nancy went to the back seat, the one that was the largest- no doubt so her, Steve and Jonathan could fit in the seat together. Lucas sat behind Mike.

Mike leaned forward and ruffled El’s hair. “You ready for the trip of a lifetime?”

El pushed his back a little, “shhh, Max is gonna sleep so shut the f**k up.”

“El! Sara is right next to you!” Hopper said as he started driving.

“She’s asleep!” El retorted.

“Still, can we keep the swearing to a minimum?” Hopper asked.

“We’ll try, but I can’t vouch for Steve,” Nancy said from the back.

“Great.”

**★☆★**

Steve was picked up after the Wheeler’s and Lucas. 

His parents gave about two f**ks about him so they probably wouldn’t even notice he would be gone for a week.

He climbed into the van at approximately five-twenty. He spotted Max asleep on El’s lap, each of them sharing an earbud. Mike waved at him from the seat behind them. Lucas didn’t seem to care that Steve was there. In the seat in there very back, was Nancy, her hair pulled back and earbuds in her ear. Her bracelets- her, Steve and Jonathan all had the same three bracelets that said their names on the inside- jingling together as she gestured him toward the back, as if he wouldn’t go back there on his own. 

He plopped down next to Nancy and slung his arm around her. “Hey, whatcha listening to?” 

Nancy laughed and held up her phone, “I got a headphone adapter so all three of us can listen to the same thing.” You could tell how excited Nancy was about said object.

“Nice,” Steve laughed, plugging his headphones into the adapter, causing his ears to fill with Sean Mendes. “Wow, really?” 

Nancy put on a fake pout and hit him lightly on the arm, “shut up, I put in some songs for my boys of course!” 

“Good,” Steve chuckled.

They picked up Dustin next. He fist bumped Steve and then slid in next to Lucas. Steve got out to pick up Robin and Julia from the former’s house. He knew that Robin would wait inside the house just to be annoying. And so, he rang the doorbell. Robin opened the door. “Took you long enough.”

“I believe we said five-fourty and it’s five-thirty-five,” Steve sassed.

“Whatever,” Robin waved him off and she got her bag. Julia, her girlfriend, followed her out. They climbed into the seat behind Dustin and Lucas. 

Finally, they reached the Byers’ house. Mike climbed out to help them with their bags. Mrs. Byers sat in the front seat next to Hopper. Will and Mike piled into the seat that the latter had been in before. Jonathan slid in next to Steve.

“Nance got a headphone adapter,” Steve said, slightly teasingly.

“Plug ‘em in, baby!” Nancy giggled.

Jonathan laughed and pulled his headphones out of his pocket. He plugged them in and rested his head on Steve's shoulder. Steve did the same with Nancy’s shoulder. Nancy sighed and leaned on the window. Ideally, they would be able to lay in a circle this way, so Nancy had someone to lay on too, but it wasn’t possible.

If only it was.

**★☆★**

After a long fourteen hour drive, six driver changes, five playlist swaps, and seven stops- one every two hour, arrived in Chicago at about eight-twenty pm. 

“Okay, we’re gonna go check in, please don’t destroy the van while we’re in there,” Hopper said, turning to look at the teens- and of course Sara.

“Once again, I cannot vouch for Steve,” Nancy said. 

“Excuse me?!” Steve’s voice heightened- not even close to slightly. The rest of the van burst out laughing.

“Right, so, don’t let Steve near anything flammable and we’ll be good,” Hopper said as he and Will’s mom climbed out and walked into the Westin hotel.

“Yo, everyone has their pride stuff, right?” Dustin asked. Everyone nodded in agreement.

“My dad bought a shirt that says ‘My Kid’s Non Binary and I’m a Police Chief So Don’t Even Try To Misgender Them’.” El turned in their seat to face the rest of the teens. Max turned too.

Mike snorted next to Will. Will laughed, “my mom has one that says ‘I love my Bi-Son and Gay-Son’. And it has a drawing of bison colored with the flag colors.” This caused his friends to laugh.

“God, I wish my parents would wear shirts like that,” Max said.

“Well, f**k your parents. And f**k Steve’s parents. And Mike and Nancy’s,” Lucas said.

Steve held his Gatorade up, “and cheers to that.” 

Everyone else held up their gas station drinks- a few F’reals, a few sodas and a few chocolate milks. “Cheers,” they all said.

Dustin had been the only one who didn’t say it- including Sara- but that’s only because he said, “f**king cheers.”

They’re not very good with this “watch your profanity” rule.

**★☆★**

Max finished drawing El’s flags on their face with makeup and turned them toward the mirror in the bathroom of El and Mike’s hotel room.

It was a full length mirror, so the couple could see their full get up. Max was dressed in an outfit that had the colors of the lesbian flag all in the right order. El had painted a lesbian flag going from her jaw, past her eye and to her ginger hairline. Her hair was down and flowing to her shoulders. El had on leggings of the pan flag, a t-shirt of the non binary flag and a leather jacket over that- plus they had put on a binder. They had one flag on each cheek. They had put in dangling earrings with the number eleven on them and their curls bounced around their head as they happily stimmed by shaking their hands a little and bouncing on the balls of their feet. They had added the touch of matching black tattoo chokers. 

Everyone was in El and Mike’s room, couples- and throuples- were going into the bathroom to get ready, and then doing a dramatic reveal. The only ones that didn’t do that were Lucas and Dustin, who didn’t have partners so they got dressed on their own.

Max and Eleven walked out, Max doing jazz hands. Everyone clapped and cheered. They were the first to get ready, with Will and Mike going in after them.

Will came out covered in rainbows and Mike with a cape made of a bi flag sewn to the back of a shirt that said “boys, girls, why not?” Robin came out dressed as she normally did, but she had a leather jacket on that had detailing that said “Gay AF Gang” and had a lesbian flag to wrap around herself. Julia had a heart drawn on her fully shaven head and a short overall dress of the lesbian flag on top of a black t-shirt. Lucas pretty much danced out with a bi zip up hoodie over a shirt that said “I had a crush on a boy, twice.” Nancy, Steve and Jonathan came over with the polyamory symbol painted in their cheeks. Steve had a shirt that said “I’m so bi, I have a girlfriend  _ and _ a boyfriend.” Nancy’s shirt said, “my heart’s too big.” Jonathan’s was plain on the front, but the back said, “surprise motherf**ker” written in the colors of the poly flag. Dustin was the last to get ready, coming out with a pan t-shirt with his signature vest over it. He had painted a small pan flag on the hat he wore every day.

Will turned on the vlog camera. The group had a vlog channel called The Party that had a surprising amount of subscribers. “Okay, so,” Will told the camera. “We’re in Chicago for Pride!” Everyone cheered in the background. Will did more intro stuff and they set off to find the parents.

Once they met Hopper and Mrs. Byers in the hallway outside Hopper’s room, what Will and El had said about their respective parents’ shirts was correct. Sara had on a shirt that said, “I respect pronouns, why can’t you?”

They exited the hotel and began their walk to the parade.

**★☆★**

Music was blasting and it overwhelmed El just enough to have them need their noise canceling headphones on. The Party was filming each other, dancing and just having a straight up good time.

Or a queer up good time.

El had Sara on their shoulders with Max holding the young one’s hand, Steve and Jonathan were carrying Nancy for some reason, Mike and Will were holding hands, Dustin was dancing around everyone, Robin and Julia were singing to the music and Lucas was filming. The parents were following close behind.

At some point, the song Dancing’s Not A Crime, which was Will’s favorite song, started playing. Will’s face lit up and Mike laughed. “Come on! It’s my song!” Will yelled over the music, pulling Mike in to dance with him. Mike threw his head back laughing at his adorable boyfriend. A few seconds later, he and Will were dancing. Mike lifted his arm and spun Will. Once Will was back facing him, he kissed him softly. 

“You’re cute!” Mike yelled. Will blushed and giggled.

“So are you!” He yelled back, making it Mike’s turn to blush and giggle.

Mike’s peripheral vision was filled with rainbows and people, but he didn’t care, he could only focus on Will. He pulled Will close to him in a hug. The smaller boy gasped in surprise but hugged back. Mike took a deep breath and whispered in his ear, “I love you.” Will gasped again and Mike silently cursed at himself. He’d put Will in a position where he was pressured to say something. 

His brain was scrambling for ways to take it back when Will pulled away from the hug, kissed him softly and said, “I love you, too.” Mike’s heart felt like it was gonna explode.

Overall, this had been a good trip.

  
  



End file.
